My previous post used the example of Stephen Colbert's satirical "March to Keep Fear Alive" as a timely illustration of a larger point: humans evolved to be fearful -- since that helped keep our ancestors alive -- so we are very vulnerable to being frightened and even intimidated by threats, both real ones and "paper tigers." With this march, Colbert is obviously mocking those who play on fear, since we certainly don't need any new reminders to keep fear alive.Some Background This … [Read more...]

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert had dueling rallies in DC in October, 2010. Stewart's was "Rally to Restore Sanity" and Colbert's was "March to Keep Fear Alive!"Obviously, Colbert is a great satirist who was poking fun, since we sure don't need a rally to keep fear alive. Alarming messages are all around us, like the news about global warming or the "Threat Level Orange" announcements every few minutes in the airport.Some of those messages are true and worth heeding. For example, dumping … [Read more...]